Man drinks sanitiser, dies

12/04/2020, STAFF REPORTER,COIMBATORE

A 35-year-old man from Sulur in Coimbatore died on Saturday after he consumed hand sanitiser, allegedly expecting to get high from the alcohol-based disinfectant solution.

The deceased has been identified as E. Bernard, a resident of Karaiya Rayappa Dever Street.

The police said that he was working as a delivery agent with an LPG distribution agency.

He was not going for work for the last two days due to the lockdown. Addicted to alcohol, he consumed a bottle of sanitiser he had at home around 2.30 a.m. on Saturday.

The agency had provided sanitiser to its employees to cleanse their hands as a precaution against COVID-19, the police said.

Though the man was rushed to a hospital, doctors declared him brought dead.

Coimbatore-based gastroenterologist V.G. Mohan Prasad said that consumption of alcohol based sanitisers meant for sanitising hands was highly dangerous as it could destroy cellular mechanisms of liver, stomach and other organs of the gastrointestinal system.